The People’s Plan for Nature is a plan created for the people, by the people of the UK about the future of nature. It paints a vision of the desired future and sets out the actions that we — governments, businesses, charities, organisations, farmers and communities — must take to protect and restore nature. It was powered by a joint group of NGOs - WWF, the RSPB and the National Trust.
The project used a two stage participatory model to build a public mandate for the plan’s recommendations. First, a National Conversation on Nature set out what people in the UK cared about when it came to protecting and restoring nature. This learning, plus a wealth of academic and expert information on nature, was brought to a People’s Assembly, designed and delivered by Involve.
At the Assembly, 103 people from all walks of life from across the UK deliberated and made the recommendations which form The People’s Plan for Nature. This plan recommends the actions that we can all take to protect and restore nature: with recommendations for local and national governments, businesses, charities and communities to help nature in the UK to thrive.
The People’s Plan for Nature launched publicly in Spring 2023. All of the partners published their response to the recommendations on their own websites and are pushing for the Plan’s recommendations to become reality.
You can see more about the Plan in this video:
How did the Assembly work?
The People’s Assembly for Nature brought together a broadly reflective group of 103 people over the age of 16 from across the UK. Over the course of four weekends, two in person in Birmingham and two online, between November 2022 and February 2023, they heard from expert witnesses and different opinions on the future of nature and the changes needed, and took part in facilitated discussions where they developed the People’s Plan for Nature.
You can hear about how the assembly worked from the Assembly Members in this video:
Each weekend focused on a theme:
- Weekend One: What is nature and why protect?
- Weekend Two: Protecting and restoring nature
- Weekend Three: Sustaining people and nature
- Weekend Four: The Plan is created
An advisory group was appointed to make sure the design of the People’s Assembly for Nature and choice of who presented was impartial and fair. The assembly heard from many presenters, and you can watch recordings of the presentations online.
If you want to know more about citizens’ assemblies, see our explainer here.
Impact
The People’s Plan for Nature promotes actions that we can all take to protect and restore nature.
As part of this, the Assembly developed recommendations for:
- Government (local and national)
- Food and farming businesses
- Non-governmental organisations, including charities
- Communities and individuals
You can read more suggestions for action on the People’s Plan for Nature website
The assembly’s recommendations fed into the final People’s Plan for Nature, which was launched in March 2023. Assembly Members were supported with taking further action after the assembly by the partners organisations. The RSPB, WWF & National Trust ran campaigns encouraging all actors to take action and deliver the social, political and economic changes needed to address the nature and climate crises.
You can download a summary and the full People’s Plan for Nature on the webpage here.